Sep 26, 2024

Altruist launches digital fixed-income trading for RIAs; BlackRock taps Vestmark for custom model portfolio partnership; and Alight adds firms offering mental health, fertility support to partner network. Reported by Altruist Corp. has launched a digital fixed-income trading center for registered investment advisers. The platform offers RIAs the ability to look at real-time pricing and bond inventory across certificates of deposit, corporate bonds, government agency securities, municipal bonds and U.S. Treasurys. It also has a “click-to-trade” option on the Altruist platform, with the goal of minimizing transaction costs and helping advisers “trade bonds without ever having to pick up the phone,” according to the announcement. “Technology has propelled the financial advice industry forward, yet fixed income trading has lagged behind,” Harpreet Ahluwalia, chief product officer at Altruist, said in a statement. “When you make it easier for advisers to navigate the bond market, clients benefit from more predictable cash flows and deeper portfolio personalization.” The new center is backed by a partnership with Moment Technology Inc., a fixed-income trading platform. Vestmark, BlackRock Partner on Custom Model Portfolios Wealth management software provider Vestmark Inc. has signed a commercial partnership with BlackRock Inc. to provide custom model portfolios for registered investment advisers. The partnership will combine Vestmark’s “VAST” personalized investing and tax management tool, launched in 2023 , with BlackRock’s ability to build model portfolios at scale. BlackRock will offer its RIA custom model portfolios through Vestmark’s marketplace, which offers a unified managed account platform for investments including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts, among others. “This collaboration strengthens our position as a prominent solution that combines advanced portfolio management with tax management capabilities,” Vestmark CEO Karl Roessner said in a statement. Vestmark supports six of the 10 largest managed account platforms in the industry, according to the announcement. Alight Partners With Firms Offering Employee Well-Being, Fertility Support Alight Inc. has penned partnerships with two employee benefit firms to expand its offerings to employers. Alight will now offer benefits via Journey, an employee assistance program focused on mental health and well-being support, and Carrot Fertility, which offers fertility and family-building support. Journey offers a preventative mental health and well-being service that seeks to engage employees on a daily basis; the benefit is designed to “prevent issues, reduce turnover, address burnout and promote overall employee wellbeing,” according to the announcement. Offerings include live coaching, access to trained clinicians with a three-day average wait time and services in multiple languages. Carrot Fertility offers fertility benefits that provide services from pre-pregnancy through menopause. It is a global service with localized content connecting to more than 11,000 clinics, attorneys, agencies and service providers, according to the announcement. “By integrating Journey and Carrot Fertility into our partner network, we are further empowering employers to provide individualized care that meets their employees’ needs to help foster a healthier, more engaged workforce,” Missy Van Brocklin, vice president of partners at Alight, said in a statement. Tags